Train like a rover-driving astronaut

On 29 April 2016, ESA astronaut Tim Peake will take part in an experiment dubbed 'SUPVIS-M' (Supervisory Control of Mars Yard Rover) in which he will operate, from the International Space Station (ISS), a UK-built rover – Bridget – located in the Airbus Mars Yard in Stevenage, UK.

The experiment is part of Europe's METERON (Multipurpose End-To-end Robotics Operations Network) project, which aims to prepare for future human-robotic missions to the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies. Considerations such as which tasks are robotic and which human, and what data are needed to support the monitoring and control of assets, like vehicles on a planetary surface, will feed directly into plans for future exploration initiatives and the design of mission systems.

Prior to the live rover control from the ISS, Tim Peake was shown this video to provide him a general overview of how the rover works and to familiarise him with the space-to-ground data links. Part of the experiment aims to study how humans naturally and extemporaneously interact with robotic systems, so this video provides a general overview in just sufficient detail to enable him to get started. As such, it's been produced at a level that is understandable to non-specialists, so we thought we'd share it here in YouTube.

Follow the experiment live on 29 April via:

ESA Meteron blog
http://blogs.esa.int/meteron

Twitter @esaoperations
http://www.twitter.com/esaoperations

More information

Airbus Rover ‘Bridget’
http://www.space-airbusds.com/en/news2/all-you-want-to-know-about-bridget.html

METERON, SUPVIS-E/M and rover controlling by Tim Peake https://principia.org.uk/the-mission/experiments-in-space/meteron-human-robotic-planetary-exploration